Posts by Doubting Bro

37

BOE LTR Dec 9, 2010 (copy/paste) DC listings removed from March 1st WT!!!

by yknot in

christian congregation of jehovah's witnesses'.

same meeting.

meeting.

Doubting Bro

It's a little weird but I think its a trial ballon for having the local BOE print out the KMs from jw.org as opposed to printing and mailing them. They want to see if there are any problems and if the problems are minor (ask the COs to poll the local BOEs and report back) then they'll proceed with moving more things to this format.

Pure speculation because it's not as if 1) people don't know when a convention takes place and 2) those sessions are open to the public.

Also, it's not like they have so much stuff they want to put in that they don't have room!!

139

Some observations from the KM Elder School I wanted to share with you.

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

my school was a couple weeks back, and it was interesting to a degree.

to be honest with you, it reminded me of a police crime scene investigation with yellow tape.

what i mean is, in one respect it was business as usual.

Doubting Bro

MLE - thanks for your impressions. I've posted before that we currently have a few serving elders with kids in college (one with 2 attending and a 3rd graduated a few years ago). Good for the kids that their parents have allowed them the opportunity and support despite the "counsel" over the past few years. But, now that it's a removable offense - I really wonder what's going to happen. The BOE here is made up of several colleged educated JWs (which is a rarity) and they've appointed over the past few years a couple of kids as MS that were still in college. And not a "supplemental education" situation, a full 4 year degree (obviously I'm US based) with majors in stuff like engineering and business.

It seems like the BOE has no choice but to review the elders in question and likely remove them from the 8 questions I see. While the kids are active, it almost seems to me to be an automatic removal because a few of the questions specifically relate to how the elder views the FDS direction. Well, obviously this guy doesn't agree with it because all of his kids went to college (again, good for them).

I'm hoping they remove him because at the moment, my wife doesn't believe any of this stuff about the WTS forbidding college. She still thinks its each family's choice and that the WTS is just warning of getting caught up in campus life. That has changed and she doesn't want to admit it. If they remove this elder over sending his goody goody kids to college (they live at home, not on campus and are the straightest laced kids you ever want to met), I'm hoping this will help her wake up. It's a longshot but the more they crack down on normal activities, the better chance there is to get folks to wake up.

123

An Open letter to the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses (Elders/ Ex-Elders)

by stuckinamovement in

jw
friends

if you are an elder or an ex-elder please add a comment.

i hope that the governing body will see this.

it is too bad it has to be on an anonymous forum.

Doubting Bro

Cosign! All of those reasons were part of my tought process in resigning and realizing that the GB doesn't speak for Jehovah.

19

NFL Wildcard Games - 2011

by Iron Head in

saturday, january 8, 2011 .

4:30pm est nbc - new orleans @seattle.

8:00pm est nbc - ny jets @indianapolis.

Doubting Bro

All the visiting teams:

Saints

Jets

Ravens

Packers

57

To all lurking JW elders

by Mickey mouse in

jw
friends

come on in, the water's fine.

you may even realise you have close friends and family here.

.

Doubting Bro

curiousconfused - Welcome to the board. Look forward to your contributions.

I do understand what you're refering to when you talk about the psudo-association that comes from constantly discussing things JW when you've left. As I'm sure you know, there are those that are JW only to keep up family ties and appearances. Even some that are serving in some appointed capacity that either don't believe at all or have serious doctrinal/organizational issues. So, those folks (I'm including myself as one who attends for family reasons but doesn't think the WTS is Gods chosen organization) will critique the literature here since they're not able to do so with loved ones or others in their congregation. Or at least that's my motivation and I'm assuming others feel the same way.

As for those that have either faded or have da'ed or been df'ed, I think the shunning practice is probably why they can't just let it go. I think there are a large number of exJws that don't come to these boards or don't necessarily focus on the literature. They're done and that's that. But, the pain caused by shunning is so great that some feel the need to help others see the same way they do and leave. Honestly, communities that practice shunning (mormons and scientology are 2 examples) tend to have more vocal ex members as opposed to say Baptists.

Anyway, I think your prospective is valuable and hope that you'll stay.

24

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."- Michael Corleone in Godfather III. Sorta reminds me of my life.

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

most of you recognize that line from the godfather iii, which wasn't the greatest film in my opinion, but that line was classic.

it perfectly depicts my life as it stands now.

i'm at a crossroads in life, and my heart is being tugged in different directions.

Doubting Bro

Enjoyed reading the first part of "your story". I agree with you that the vast majority of JW youth are living a double life. Being a teenager is hard enough without having to live up to almost unatainable expectations many JW parents place on their kids. In addition, sticking out like a sore thumb during the period most people want to fit in most almost forces you to do the double life thing.

Look forward to hearing the rest.

113

WTBTS Elder & Ministerial Servant Problems

by JW GoneBad in

i attended a recent ministerial servant k m school on the east coast and the main school instructor mentioned among other things (part entitled: 'objective of the km school course') that the total number of ministerial servants is seriously less than it should be.

in times past the ratio of m ss to elders was much more than it is today.. in the u.s. apparently the total number of elders is 88,500+ as opposed to m ss 65,000. the numbers show & numbers don't lie: the society is running out of spiritual men.

the instructor stated that this is a new downward trend that has (in so many words) the society worried.. the next speaker (part entitled: 'why we must be spiritual men') added that in his years as a traveling servant the pool of m ss has always been much, much larger than it is today.

Doubting Bro

Speaking of merging congregations, has anyone noticed a trend to build 2 auditoriums on one site (zoning permitting). I've heard them refered to as "double halls". I could see that as a way to deal with declining numbers. Move 4 congregations into a complex. Sell off 4 separate KHs and use that cash to build the new building with money left over to "donate" to the WWW. Then, if numbers decline you could merge 2 together in that complex without anyone really seeing any difference since you'd be going to the same building. Do that, you'd also open up room to move another congregation into the complex.

I do know that this merging/disbanding has become common enough, at least among the English halls, that when it happens people seem to just shrug it off. But psychologically it's taking its toll and is a major point of discouragement. The last time I saw a new English congregation form in this area (a growing area by the way) was over 15 years ago!! I've seen several non-English but no English.

113

WTBTS Elder & Ministerial Servant Problems

by JW GoneBad in

i attended a recent ministerial servant k m school on the east coast and the main school instructor mentioned among other things (part entitled: 'objective of the km school course') that the total number of ministerial servants is seriously less than it should be.

in times past the ratio of m ss to elders was much more than it is today.. in the u.s. apparently the total number of elders is 88,500+ as opposed to m ss 65,000. the numbers show & numbers don't lie: the society is running out of spiritual men.

the instructor stated that this is a new downward trend that has (in so many words) the society worried.. the next speaker (part entitled: 'why we must be spiritual men') added that in his years as a traveling servant the pool of m ss has always been much, much larger than it is today.

Doubting Bro

oh, sorry. They eliminated a local congregation and reassigned members to existing congregations (2 I believe). The congregation I attend picked up several territories and a few publishers (no elders, ms or pioneers). I think the attendance had dropped to below 50 and they only had a couple of elders/ms. There's a rumor that another congregation is going to meet the same fate based on the number of folks attending. Maybe disbanded is the term that they're using?

113

WTBTS Elder & Ministerial Servant Problems

by JW GoneBad in

i attended a recent ministerial servant k m school on the east coast and the main school instructor mentioned among other things (part entitled: 'objective of the km school course') that the total number of ministerial servants is seriously less than it should be.

in times past the ratio of m ss to elders was much more than it is today.. in the u.s. apparently the total number of elders is 88,500+ as opposed to m ss 65,000. the numbers show & numbers don't lie: the society is running out of spiritual men.

the instructor stated that this is a new downward trend that has (in so many words) the society worried.. the next speaker (part entitled: 'why we must be spiritual men') added that in his years as a traveling servant the pool of m ss has always been much, much larger than it is today.

Doubting Bro

The congregation I attend has the following:

Elders - 8 in total broken down by age:

Over 80 - 1

70-80 - 1

60-70 - 1

50-60 - 3

40-50 - 0

30-40 - 2

MS - 7 broken down by age:

over 80 - 0

70-80 - 1 (will never be an elder)

60-70 - 1 (will never be an elder)

50-60 - 2 (both are ex-elders - likely be promoted in 3-5 years)

40-50 - 1 (outside chance)

30-40-1 (good chance of being promoted)

20-30 - 2 (1 has a good chance of being an elder by 30 the other is a slacker that does just enough to stay a ms)

Ex-elders who make little to no effort - 8 with all of them over 40. I'm actually the only one under 50 so there's no way any of these guys are going to "serve" again.

Potential MS - 2 (one of which is around 20 and the other is in his 30s having been a ms before)

Oh, this congo is considered to be one of the stronger in the circuit. Many others have about 5 elders and 1 or 2 ms. We had 1 congo contracted and there will likely be another one in the near future.

I haven't gotten the stats yet from the KM school locally but will post them as soon as I get them.

59

Elder wants to do "other activities" with me

by InterestedOne in

jw
friends

i'm fully aware that this is a cult, and i was waiting for the social elements to kick in.

so far, i have just been doing the "bible study," discussing doctrine, etc.

however, recently one of the elders said he wants to get together with me to do other activities.

Doubting Bro

InterestedOne - Thanks for the background. Seriously, you should drop the romance before you get to invested. She will always chose the cult over you and you won't wake her up. Sorry to be so blunt but it is what it is. If you get involved deeper, it will just bring you heartache.

Take it from a born in ex-elder, I've seen too many people torned to shreds by the religion. Run while you still can.